IGNORANCE OF CULTURAL, POLITICAL DYNAMICS THWARTS AMERICAN ACTION ABROAD

A quarter century ago I was wandering through Iran, which is not an activity I suggest for Americans who desire a long life and peaceful death.

I was insulted, spat upon and otherwise harassed during my cross-country adventure. The Iranians let me know they had a deep-seated hatred for Americans and would just as soon see me dead.

Because of my experiences I was not surprised a decade later when Iran exploded in revolution. The shah was out, the ayatollah was in and America was humbled by the hostage crisis.

American diplomats were shocked. How could such a powerful leader as the shah be toppled so quickly? How could the Iranians treat their good friends the Americans so wretchedly? These were the questions being asked at the time.

I was struck by the abject ignorance of the State Department. As a college- aged traveler I recognized Iran was a tinder box, so why weren't our ambassadors, sub-ambassadors and attaches able to do the same?

Probably because they spent most of their time in chauffeured limousines and behind embassy compound walls.

They didn't travel third-class on trains or ride through the Iranian desert on buses. They didn't sleep in Iranian inns or try to communicate with average Iranian working stiffs. Had they done so, as I had, they would not have been surprised by the revolution.

American ignorance of the dynamics of foreign cultures knows no bounds.

We condemn the Chinese for their refusal to honor individual rights, oblivious to the fact that the Chinese social ideal is based on harmony not individuality.

China has been around for 50 centuries. The United States has been around for two.

What gives us the right to tell the Chinese that Jefferson made more sense than Lao-tsu and Confucius?

In the 1960s, U.S. officials, ignorant of the political and social dynamics of Southeast Asia, underestimated the residual hatred of colonialism. America took the place of the French, sent soldiers into Vietnam and paid for the folly with 58,000 American lives.

Today the United States seems to be marching again toward war, this time in the Balkans.

President Bill Clinton has resisted the military option in dealing with Serb attacks against Muslims in Bosnia, but pressure is building for him to commit American armed forces.

Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on European affairs, wants the United States to launch air strikes immediately on Serb artillery positions. The Delaware Democrat also suggests the U.S. and its allies prepare to deploy ground forces to help lift the siege of Sarajevo.

"We haven't done a damn thing," he said indignantly this week, and blamed the devastation of the Bosnian city of Srebrenica on U.S. failure to aid the Muslims.

With all due respect, Sen. Biden, as a taxpaying citizen of the United States I refuse to accept one iota of responsibility for the killing and destruction. The blame lies solely with people who are shooting at each other.

The causes of the conflict are rooted in centuries of history that you and the State Department are incapable of truly understanding. So please, spare the nation your righteous indignation.

And while you're at it, consider this scenario: America launches air strikes and loses planes to Serbian fire. The president escalates with ground forces that get bogged down in a guerrilla war.

To the east, angry Russian nationalists overthrow Boris Yeltsin and march to the defense of the Serbs, who are fellow Slavs. All of a sudden, two nuclear- equipped armies are locked in battle.

If you don't think that can happen, Sen. Biden, just remember: The great powers intervened in a Balkan crisis in June of 1914. By August, after a series of miscalculations, World War I was under way.